Beyond the Veil: Seeds of Suspicion

Satoki wasn't too concerned when she discovered that she had been separated. Sneaking through the shadows unseen was much more her style anyway, and that was hard to do with three bumbling idiots who couldn't sneak to save their life. Except for Oszlár, perhaps, as he had learned quickly in the few times they had snuck into the Sixth Division barracks.

Even still, Satoki felt it would be much easier to do what was needed on her own.

Of course, sneaking through a battlefield is much easier said than done, and even the infamous Black Fang was finding it hard to remain unseen, although she would never admit such a thing.

Look for any Arrancar or Death Eaters trying to break in to the castle, Satoki repeated Sirius's instructions to herself, squashing any opinions she had on the ridiculous name the enemy wizards had chosen. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that it would be near impossible to single out a few enemies, as many battles had already been moved inside the ancient establishment. Satoki noted that several walls had caved in, broken by the force of the tremendous amounts of reiatsu being unleashed all over the place. She could spy several taicho and Espada, along with numerous wizards, locked in deadly duels in the hallways.

Satoki also soon found out that she would, indeed, have to find her companions sooner than expected. As much as she hated to admit any kind of weakness, she had no knowledge of the castle's layout, and was practically wandering around like a blind soul.

She wasn't wandering for long before she ran into the Golden Trio.

Literally.

The moment the black-haired girl felt herself collide with an invisible solid, she instinctively reacted by grabbing whatever she had hit, and pinning it to the ground with her Zanpakutou t its throat. Unfortunately, as there were three bodies beneath the Cloak, instead of a smooth pinning, all four tumbled to the ground, knocking into each other.

Satoki relaxed slightly when she saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione, or at least their various body parts, poking out from under the Cloak.

"Potter, Weasley, Granger," she said, smoothly regaining her feet and sheathing her blade.

The other three were a little less graceful in standing.

"Satoki?" Harry said. "I thought you were with Sirius…searching the battlefield. Where is he...and the others?"

Satoki raised an eyebrow. "The battlefield has grown beyond our expectations. It is now impossible to know who is sneaking in to the castle for nefarious means."

"We know what you mean," Ron said with a wince. The three had encountered many battles on their journey through the castle, and often had only been saved by the Invisibility Cloak. "Everything's gone to hell in here, and we haven't found Bellatrix."

"So where is Sirius?" Harry asked again.

"We were separated. Oszlár, Black, and Ureftu should arrive momentarily," Satoki answered. "However, whether or not they will be able to find us remains to be seen…"

Hermione bit her lip. There was something that didn't add up, something that had been bugging her since the battle began. "Satoki…do you know what Voldemort and Aizen are planning?"

The shinigami student hesitated a moment before answering. "I am not sure," she said slowly. "We do know that Aizen intends to use the spiritually enriched grounds of Hogwarts to make a King's Key. As for the plans of the wizard leader…we do not know."

"It must have something to do with Malfoy," Harry said, ignoring the way Ron and Hermione both sighed and shook their heads.

"What do you mean?" Satoki asked, her eyes narrowed.

Harry shot his two friends a glare, daring them to stop him from explaining, and said, "All year, Draco Malfoy has been acting…strange. I think Voldemort had made him a Death Eater, and is trying to use him to do something. I don't know what, though."

"Harry, we've told you, it's absolutely preposterous," Hermione admonished. "I can't see why Voldemort would want Malfoy as a Death Eater."

Satoki cut her off. "On the contrary, Granger, it is a distinct possibility."

Hermione looked astonished, but Harry was triumphant that finally someone believed him.

"He's been acting suspicious all year," Harry continued eagerly. "He almost never left the castle, and he's always disappearing off the Map…"

"We must find this Malfoy," Satoki said firmly. "He may have valuable insight of Voldemort's plans."

Harry nodded, but Ron immediately saw a flaw in the plan.

"How are we supposed to find him in this madhouse? We already know we won't be able to use the Map, there are too many people here."

Satoki narrowed her eyes. "Tell me everything unusual that has happened here in Hogwarts, particularly anything surrounding this Malfoy. I may be able to infer what he is planning by his actions."

Confused, Harry nonetheless quickly told Satoki the events of the year, pausing only when the black-haired shinigami pulled the three into a hidden corner to avoid getting ploughed over by Kenpachi, who was bleeding profusely but chasing down four Arrancar and three Death Eaters. All of whom looked very, very scared.

"Malfoy is attempting to kill Dumbledore," Satoki said firmly, unfazed by the gasps of astonishment from her mortal companions.

"Why do you say that?" Hermione demanded.

Satoki fought the urge to roll her eyes. Were all mortals this short-sighted? "All of the attacks that you just described to me were somehow garnered towards Dumbledore. Black once mentioned that your Headmaster is the only one Voldemort truly fears. You have told me that the Malfoy family has fallen from grace with Voldemort, and that Snape has sworn to aid Malfoy. Voldemort obviously intends to kill Dumbledore, but I doubt he cares whether or not Malfoy succeeds, as Snape can easily step in and finish the job. The Arrancar are here solely for the purpose of killing everyone at Hogwarts, but the Death Eaters are most likely here specifically to murder Dumbledore."

The black-haired girl spoke quickly and without a hint of doubt in her inferences, rather like she was simply being questioned on how to perform a certain sword move, rather than piecing together an elaborate plan that spanned over the space of an entire year. The silence of the Golden Trio continued, each trying to wrap their brains around what Satoki had said, until someone said,

"Satoki! Oh, you found Harry and them, that's –"

That was as far as Sirius got, as no sooner had he started, Satoki spun around and pinned Sirius to the wall, both her blades unsheathed and at his throat.

"Bloody hell, does she always react like that?" Ron asked, something akin to awe, mixed with a little horror, in his voice.

Sirius, with some effort, pushed Satoki's arms away, and winced.

"Yeah, she does," he answered, ignoring Satoki's icy glare. "She once nearly took my head off when I tapped her. I walked around for a month with a giant bald patch on my head."

Harry and Ron snorted, and Sirius quickly put some distance between himself and the irate girl.

"So, where are Oszlár and Lefu?" Sirius asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Hermione quickly brought Sirius up to speed with what Satoki had found out, adding that they had yet to see the other two. Sirius swore when he heard of Voldemort's possible plan.

"I wouldn't put it past him," he growled. "We have to find Dumbledore."

"What about the other two?" Ron asked.

Sirius sighed. "I'm sure they're fine. Right now, we have more pressing matters."

The other four nodded, and they set off at a run after Sirius, racing to find Dumbledore in time and alert the old man of the plot.

OoOoOoOoO

Once Oszlár released his Zanpakutou, he and Fred started to get the upper hand of the battle. It helped, of course, that Oszlár had an elemental advantage.

"How do you expect to fight with such an unwieldy weapon?" Findorr asked, looking a little disappointed.

Oszlár only grinned and leapt at the Arrancar, his assault covered by numerous curses thrown by Fred. Irritated, Findorr held off Oszlár with his left claw and raised his larger one, aiming at Fred. Before Fred had the chance to escape, a jet of water sprayed out of the claw. Findorr laughed when Oszlár thrust his Zanpakutou into the stream.

His laugh was quickly strangled when sparks shot out from Raishika, which had lost some of its velvet in Oszlár's first attack, and caused the water to fizzle into steam.

"Exacta," Oszlár said, mimicking Findorr. "I assumed from your appearance that your powers must be water-based, and I'm glad to see that I was...correct."

Findorr quickly schooled his features into an impassive façade. "I see. I had wondered what that queer jolting sensation was…I now see it must have something to do with the lack of covering on your blade's tines."

"You're smart to figure that out so fast," Oszlár admitted, though he could care less whether or not Findorr knew what his Zanpakutou could do.

"Your flattery is touching," Findorr said sarcastically. "However, it'll be useless if I simply don't come into contact with your weapon."

Then the Arrancar began to fire off numerous jets of water, attacking so fast both Oszlár and Fred had to duck behind some fallen masonry for cover.

"So what's your weapon do?" Fred asked.

Oszlár winced as a jet of water came dangerously close to his hand, which had strayed out of the safe zone. "The more the velvet tears, the stronger it becomes," he answered. "I can manipulate electrical currents in atoms."

"Why don't you just rip off all the velvet then?"

"I can't," Oszlár said. "The velvet can't be ripped by the wielder."

Fred got a look on his face that the smaller redhead usually associated for some evil plot by Lefu, often with Sirius's aid.

Before Oszlár could react, Fred aimed and shouted, "Diffindo!"

Instinctively, Oszlár raised his Zanpakutou to block the attack, rolling to put some distance between himself and the other redhead. Unfortunately, this also meant that Oszlár rolled right into Findorr's line of fire.

"Stupefy!" Fred shouted, causing Findorr to dodge and break off in his attempt to attack Oszlár.

"What the hell what that for?" Oszlár demanded, glaring at Fred. Then he felt a slight surge of power, and looked down at his weapon. Understanding flooded his eyes as Fred held off Findorr with several carefully-aimed curses.

Fred's spell had removed some of the remaining velvet, leaving half of the tines uncovered.

"Hit me a few more times, Fred!" Oszlár shouted. There was something thing he had always wanted to try…something Raishika had shown him during one training session. To distract Findorr, Oszlár took advantage of Fred occupying Findorr by firing a Bakudou spell.

"Bakudou 4, Hainawa!"

Golden ropes shot out to entangle Findorr's limbs. The Arrancar was taken by surprise and tumbled to the ground. Fred immediately began attacking Oszlár's weapon. The velvet fell away and disappeared into shreds of reiatsu.

Oszlár grinned and hefted his now velvet-free weapon. Raishika was at full power, something Oszlár had never experienced before, as no one had lasted long enough against Oszlár to remove all the velvet. The tines glittered with the light of various curses and Kidou spells flying around, looking very savage with their uncovered tips.

Findorr broke free of the binding spell and immediately fired another jet of water at Oszlár, thinking him distracted. Oszlár simply swung his Zanpakutou, neatly slicing the jet and making the water steam out of existence. Then the redhead suddenly Shunpo'd closer, lightly tapping Findorr with his weapon and saying,

"Denso."

Sparks flew out of the tines that came into contact with Findorr, who immediately tried to put some distance between himself and his attacker. He was horrified to find that his body would no longer listen to him.

Oszlár chuckled. "I've never had the chance to use that, because it requires all the tines to be uncovered," he explained. "It should hold even you for a while, because I've cut off all electrical activity in your muscular structure. Just to be sure…"

Fred caught the shinigami student's look, and nodded.

"Petrificus Totallus," he said, pointing his wand at Findoor, who could only glare at his opponents.

"Now," Oszlár said, hefting his Zanpakutou and getting a feral gleam in his eyes, "let's finish this."

Oszlár attacked, decapitating the frozen Arrancar. The body fell heavily to the ground, quickly shrivelling away into nothingness. Oszlár curled a lip at the blood staining his unusually-shaped weapon, and wiped the offending substance off on his hakama. Fred looked a little sick at the violent act.

"It's kill or be killed, Fred," Oszlár said by way of comfort, his Hollow-like urges starting to fade now that the immediate battle was over. "He wasn't even human, and would have killed you for fun."

Fred nodded. "I know that, but still, I don't like it."

Oszlár smiled a little. "I don't either, but someone once told me that it's not a sign of cowardice. No one should enjoy killing, and the fear of having to do so only shows that you're still human."

The smaller redhead turned away, scanning the battlefield for any sign of his companions. "Now I just have to find the others…" he muttered.

"Oszlár!"

Both redheads turned at the sound of the voice, and Oszlár was relieved to see Lefu running towards him. The taller man looked a little worse for wear with a nasty burn on his head, but alive and well nonetheless. Lefu waved as he got closer, dodging wayward spells.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," Lefu said. "Have you seen the others?"

Oszlár shook his head, and then realised something. "Did you just call me Oszlár?"

Lefu didn't appear to hear the question, as he suddenly took notice of Fred. "Who's this?"

"Oh…this is Fred Weasley, Ron's older brother," Oszlár said. "Fred, this is Lefu Ureftu."

"Nice to meetcha," Lefu said with a grin. Suddenly he turned serious. "Oszlár, we have to find the others."

A sickening feeling immediately took residence in Oszlár's stomach.

"What happened?"

Instead of answering, Lefu grabbed Oszlár by the arm and began dragging him away towards the castle.

"We have to hurry!"

Oszlár narrowed his eyes after calling a hasty apology to Fred, who only waved and threw himself into another battle.

Why was Lefu acting so strange?

This chapter has been brought to you by Wikipedia, which taught me that muscles are moved through electric pulses sent by your brain!

Fun Fact Extra! Satoki's Zanpakutou spirit (Kakusuja) is actually a very flirtatious and bubbly character. Oszlár's Zanpakutou spirit (Raishika) doesn't speak and abhors bloodshed.